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Blues Just Happen

In September 2014, veteran harmonica virtuoso Westside Andy Linderman gathered with four master bluesmen and longtime friends (including Kim Wilson veterans Barrelhouse Chuck and Billy Flynn) to celebrate his 45+ years of performing, with this live record

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Blues Just Happens was recorded live at the Armory in Janesville, Wis. for an appreciative and enthusiastic audience. Giving Andy space to shine are four stellar blues musicians who also share decades-long friendships: Barrelhouse Chuck (keyboards), Billy Flynn (guitar), Dave Wood (bass), and Steve Dougherty (drums).

“Andy Linderman is a great player, a great heart, a great musicality and energy, and a great friend.”

Corky Siegel, musician/producer

"Andy Linderman is one of my very favorite harp players. His tone and phrasing are tops in my book."

Gary Primich, premier harp player

"I remain a fan and supporter of your work as one of the most dynamic electric harmonica players of your generation."

Dan Aykroyd, actor/musician

“Andy blows harmonica on the virtuoso level, with great tone and an apparently endless stock of ideas, and beats the odds by doing it gracefully.”

"I listened to your CD a couple of times. I really like this one, it has a great band with some of my favorite players. You can't go wrong with Billy, Chuck, Steve and Dave. The band is solid. You guys are in the groove.I love the way this live performance captures the energy of a live show and maintains a excellent level of the quality of the recording.A lot of times in an attempt to capture live energy of a live an actual show, the recording quality suffers, sounding like a cheap bootleg.This one is different. Hats off the your recording team. It is really nice to have a new one from you to share with the listeners. "

Some of my favorite recordings are live blues cds, probably because I really love being at live performances. It is magic when the recording can capture the special feeling of a band dialed in on stage in front of a live audience. Every instrument can be heard, every sung line is clear, and yet it still feels like you are at the live show. Blues Just Happen, the new release by Westside Andy Linderman has all of that and more.

In the first track, “Just Keep Loving Her” Billy Flynn yells an enthusiastic “Blues!” going into a vamp toward the end of the song. These guys were having fun that night in Janesville, WI, and when blues musicians of this caliber are having fun special things happen. Each musician on this recording delivers. Billy Flynn (guitar, vocals) and Barrelhouse Chuck (keyboards, vocals) have teamed up on several recordings over the years, including the Grammy winning soundtrack for the movie “Cadillac Records.” The rhythm section of Steve Dougherty (drums) and Dave Wood (bass) are rock solid. The great musicianship of this group really seems to bring the best out of Westside Andy on this grease-dripping blues set.

I often try to put my finger on what makes Westside Andy such a great harmonica player. He uses all the tools including tone, dynamics, phrasing, space, rhythm, groove, technique, and emotion to seem as if he is playing at ease while being one of the most expressive musicians in the world.

In a time when so many bands are saving money by putting out cds in the sleeve format with no liner notes, Westside Andy invested in a proper cd package with great pictures and beautiful graphic design. The picture of the band in front of a worn brick wall is great, and when you look closer the boarded up windows are actually pictures of each of the stellar musicians backing Westside Andy up on this disc. When I first started listening to blues, reading liner notes in cd’s from the library and figuring out who was influenced by whom and then checking those cats out was a valuable part of my education and added to my enjoyment of the music on the disc. The notes from Dan Aykroyd and Mark Thompson do a great job adding insight about Westside Andy and the music you hear on the disc. In a digital age, this one is worth buying in physical form.